Pyranine is a

hydrophilic A hydrophile is a molecule or other molecular entity that is attracted to water molecules and tends to be dissolved by water.Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. (1940). ''A Greek-English Lexicon'' Oxford: Clarendon Press. In contrast, hydrophobes are no ...

, pH-sensitive

fluorescent dye A fluorophore (or fluorochrome, similarly to a chromophore) is a fluorescent chemical compound that can re-emit light upon light excitation. Fluorophores typically contain several combined aromatic groups, or planar or cyclic molecules with se ...

from the group of chemicals known as arylsulfonates. Pyranine is soluble in water and has applications as a coloring agent, biological stain, optical detecting reagent, and a

pH indicator A pH indicator is a halochromic chemical compound added in small amounts to a solution so the pH (acidity or basicity) of the solution can be determined visually or spectroscopically by changes in absorption and/or emission properties. Hence, ...

. One example would be the measurement of

intracellular pH Intracellular pH (pHi) is the measure of the acidity or basicity (i.e., pH) of intracellular fluid. The pHi plays a critical role in membrane transport and other intracellular processes. In an environment with the improper pHi, biological cells ...

. Pyranine is also found in yellow

highlighter A highlighter is a type of writing device used to mark attention to sections of text by marking them with a vivid, translucent colour. A typical highlighter is fluorescent yellow, colored with pyranine. Different compounds, such as rhodamines ( R ...

s, giving them their characteristic

fluorescence Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, the emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore a lower photon energy, tha ...

and bright yellow-green colour. It is also found in some types of

soap Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are use ...

Synthesis

It is synthesized from pyrenetetrasulfonic acid and a solution of sodium hydroxide in water under reflux. The trisodium salt crystallizes as yellow needles when adding an aqueous solution of

sodium chloride Sodium chloride , commonly known as salt (although sea salt also contains other chemical salts), is an ionic compound with the chemical formula NaCl, representing a 1:1 ratio of sodium and chloride ions. With molar masses of 22.99 and 35.45 g ...

References

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External links

CTD's Pyranine page
from the

Comparative Toxicogenomics Database The Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD) is a public website and research tool launched in November 2004 that curates scientific data describing relationships between chemicals/drugs, genes/proteins, diseases, taxa, phenotypes, GO annotations ...

Staining dyes Fluorescent dyes Sulfonates Pyrenes Phenols Organic sodium salts

Synthesis

See also

References

External links